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The Immortal Metal
That Once Ruled the World

By

Stanley W. Angrist

Updated Nov. 9, 2000 12:09 a.m. ET

I n 1511, King Ferdinand of Spain coined immortal words: "Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards -- get gold." And so the Spanish did -- getting lots and lots of it from the New World. But Ferdinand's words are more than the expression of one sovereign's desire; they are a kind of credo by which people have lived since gold's discovery thousands of years ago.

In "The Power of Gold ," (Wiley, 432 pages, $27.95) Peter Bernstein tells the story of this beautiful metal, which has been used for...